Knows No Bounds
by Annabel Wynters
Summary: Ryder Smith doesn't say much, but what's there to say when you've got an unlimited arsonal of powers in a high school full of up and coming superheros and maybe a few villians.
1. Hero's and Sidekicks

'_A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing…so is a lot.' _

_~Albert Einstein_

What if being normal or simply average meant being different? Could you imagine it? To never be singled out by out stupid thing like…being able to throw fire, or glow in the dark, or make as many copies of yourself as you want? What if you could fly like superman? I know a boy in the city who takes his girlfriend out on midnight flights when they think nobodies looking.

For some odd reason, it may just be me, but I think it's all funny. We're what the movies call mutants; what the press either calls Hero's or Villain's depending on what mood they're in come printing time, but as far as anyone's concerned I'm just the girl next door.

The first day of school is hyped up way beyond belief. Everyone expects you to fall on your face or to make an idiot of yourself but that's just because they just don't want it to be them when it happens.

I showed up at the bus stop on the corner 15 minutes early with nothing better to do. Since I was the first one there I got to watch as others joined me in the early morning stand, or sit in my case. I watched as the normal ones stared down the street willing their own bus to come and take them to school, to take them back to the normal lives and their normal friends.

This was when Wonder-boy and Flower-girl made their grand appearance as they walked down the sidewalk hand in hand like the disgustingly cute couple they were. Will with his Red, White, and Blue all American teen look and Layla with her hippie flower-child shtick.

"Hi!" Layla said as she waved, twirling a daisy between her fingers as she smelt the dying flower.

I said nothing as Will wrapped his arm around his girlfriend protectively, like I was a threat or some kind of trouble. Most people got that feeling around me, probably because I was trouble, just not the type they would expect. "Are you going to Sky High?" He asked but once more I gave no response. It wasn't like I was rude; I just didn't feel like talking, it was too much of a waste of energy.

Layla turned and smiled at Will, it was easy to tell that the two were happy together. A true fairytale story, boy meets girl, boy befriends girl, girl gets boy jealous and ends up saving boy's butt at some point, and in the end they're together. Shoot me now!

This was when the bus thankfully rolled up in front of us, breaking the couple apart so they could get on the bus and unknowingly stopped me from throwing up at all the cuteness.

"Hey Stronghold! You ready for another big year?" A man in an orange and white uniform shouted happily at teen hero as he opened the door to the bus. This was Ron Wilson, bus driver and certified giant robot killer for the city.

"Ha-Ha you bet Ron." Both he and Layla took their seats as I climbed my way up the bus steps. Suddenly Ron's face turned to one of the strictest seriousness in the world and his arm shot out between him and the closest seat, blocking my path.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going freshman?" He eyed me up and down as I smirked at the thought of him really thinking he was tough. "I've got my eye on you, kid." I said nothing as I pushed my way past his arm to take the first available seat; the one next to the glow stick.

"Sup Shades!" He said excitedly. "Ready for the big day, freshman?" He seemed so sure of himself that it was too hard to believe that he actually helped save the school last year, though I heard all he did was scream like a little girl. "The name is Zach Attack, but, you know, you can call me Zach." He said smoothly as he leaned back into the seat, suggestively raising his brows.

"Oh please! Stop with the act already. She's obviously not interested." A girl in a black and purple schoolgirl outfit said on her way down the bus aisle, sitting next to some boy who changed from a drastically overweight guy to some lanky redhead, freeing up space for the girl to sit.

"Shows what you know Magenta. Maybe you're just jealous that I've moved on from you."

"Is that what those phone calls to my house were last night? Sounded like begging to me." She smiled devilishly at Zach before putting headphones in her ears. Zach's face fell and turned a slight color of red, standing out against his pale skin and fluorescent hair.

I opened my mouth to say something to him when Ron Wilson shouted. "Last stop! Buckle up everyone, you know the drill. Freshmen! Keep all hands and heads away from the windows. In case of emergency, don't use the doors, they're just for show, just pray that someone here could save us, and hold on tight!" His lead foot hit the gas and the bus roared down the suburban street onto the busy highway.

Beneath my feet I could feel engine as it came to life on the road, the rhythm beating itself into my body as we raced down an unfinished highway ramp. Screams of terror and whoops of joy echoed all the way throughout the bus as if it were some kind of amusement ride. I chuckled to myself as I relaxed into the rocking motion of the bus as it maintained balance after takeoff.

I looked to my right, out the window past Zach when I noticed he was looking at me oddly, like I was interesting of something.

"You're odd, freshman." Zach said as he situated himself to where he was looking directly at me. "Most people freak when they see that were going to go off road, but…"

"But what?" I asked, smirking. This boy knew nothing about me.

"Nothing." He turned back around and watched outside the window as we flew around the floating building; part of the show for the newcomers.

The bus driver landed roughly on the landing strip off to the side of the building, sending everybody forward that wasn't ready for the sudden stop. "My bad!" He called out awkwardly as he opened the bus door. "Alright, everybody out! Now!" I followed the line out of the bus and headed straight for the school, I had some business to take care of before the morning officially began.

"Will! Zach!" a voice from across the yard yelled as a boy dressed in 50's orange clothes brushed past me and ran straight for the group that was now forming under an oak tree that hadn't been there before, most likely due to Layla and the lack of shading on the front lawn of the High School. The boy stopped at the group and they all welcomed him. "G-Guess what!" He gasped as he took a puff from his atomizer.

"You're such a dork Popsicle." Magenta said from her spot among the branches of the tree.

Layla rolled her eyes and proceeded in talking to Ethan. "What is it Ethan?"

"I'm a tour guide!"

"That's great!" She knew it was a good thing for him because Ethan really did have no life outside of school, so it was an accomplishment for him.

"Come on, I need your help gathering freshmen!"

"Here's a few right here." A familiar dark voice rang in the group's ears as Warren Peace approached then with a few fearful freshmen running from his flaming hands.

"Warren!" The two girls squealed as they practically jumped the upperclassman in a hug. It had been the last day of school since any of the group had seen him.

"Sup man." Zach said, trying his hardest to be cool, or at least what he thought was cool.

"Not you glow stick." Warren ruffled the younger's hair before he felt a chill go down his spine, knowing that his girlfriend was close and was most likely going to kill him. He turned around to see in fact Sarah targeting him in the group which wasn't hard, he was the only guy dressed all in black and red.

"Trouble?" Will asked with his arm draped lazily across Layla's shoulders. He recognized the look from the few occasions that he and his own girlfriend had fought.

"Um… I think so." He said as Sarah, aka Ice-girl, came up to him to chew off his head about how he should be trying to be a better person and how violence wasn't always the answer, to which he quipped "But it's defiantly more entertaining."

During the couples spat, the first warning bell of the day rang in the distance, signaling that the school year had begun. The group got up and left, the fighting couple included, and the oak that was big enough to have been 100 years old shrank back to nothing.

* * *

I sat silently outside the principal's office for nearly 5 minutes before she opened her door and saw that I was sitting there. Apparently I had caught her by surprise because her jaw was hanging wide open like a fish gasping air. "Wh-What are you doing here?" She finally asked as she regained her composure.

"What? Can't I visit my mother at work?" I asked, standing up to her height which was easy considering I was her height.

"Don't call me that, you and your brother need to learn that I am not your mother. I gave up that right a long time ago." She stepped forward to leave but I blocked her path.

"Yeah, I know. You gave it up when you put your job before your kids." I said angrily before I looked down and licked my lips. "Dad says hi."

"Oh please, you know as well as I do that I could care less about what your father says. It's not like he's Mr. Fantastic or anything."

"Ha! Let's face it mom, you're not exactly Wonder Woman now are you? At least he actually took time out of his day to help us with our homework, or to come see a school recital, or a basketball game. He was there for us, you weren't!"

"Will you lower your voice, people can hear you!" She hissed at me. I swear her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head.

I took a deep breath and calmed down, somewhat. "Just to let you know this was dad's idea. Not mine. So if you any issues put it up with him, not me."

"Fine, I will. Now," She straightened her jacket and smoothed her skirt of any nonexistent wrinkles. "I have an orientation that I have to conduct, you should go. Boomer will get you sorted, and please, no tricks, no smart aleck remarks, just be good."

I stood up and followed her without answering. She led me to the auditorium where a ton of freshmen stood in place like lambs to the slaughterhouse. So innocent that they didn't even know what was coming to them.

I stayed in the back where no one could see me when a swirling ball or snow and light flew into the auditorium, making all the newb's gasp. The comet turned into Principle Powers, captivating everyone's attention but mine. I knew that this was all for show to impress them all but it was still interesting to see her win over all of these kids when I was the only one who was resistant to her.

"Comet's away!" She clapped her hands and she was gone. Where she once stood was now a man in his late 40's with the typical gym coach uniform of ball cap, shorts, jacket, and whistle.

"Alright, so here's the drill! You show me what you can do and I decide whether or not you babies are going to be Hero's or Sidekicks. Got it?" They all nodded vigorously as he pulled out a clipboard with a list of names and began to read off.

Turns out that there were a lot of up and coming Hero's in this class. There was the kid that could super-jump up to the ceiling of the gym and touch it, the chick who could turn into a giant snow leopard, the guy who could super-belch his alphabet (he was going to get sidekick until he belched the car that dropped from nowhere out of harm's way), and then there was one dude who could close his eyes and move from place to place, like now you see him, now you don't.

"Hey you!" He pointed to me once everyone was done. "Yeah, you in the black. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get sorted. Principle's Orders." I said as I pushed my way through the newly founded Hero class of 2013.

"Yeah? Well you're not on my list." He gave me a skeptical look. "What grade are you?"

"Sophomore." He flipped the page on his clipboard and out tumbled my record sheet onto the floor.

"Transfer huh? From where?" Coach asked as he picked up the long list off of the floor.

"Uh…The detention unit south of the city." I chuckled as I pushed my sunglasses to the top of my head, pushing back my ink black hair that framed my face, revealing my plain blue eyes from my dad's side of the family. On the outside I was normal, just like everyone else, right? Wrong.

"Oh!" He feigned surprise. "Alright girlie, power up. Some of us have better things to do than stand here all day."

"Actually, now that you mention it, I kinda don't want to. Not just yet, that is." I stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets, rubbing the fingertips to my palms out of nervous habit.

"Why not?" He asked, dropping his clipboard to his side and getting closer and closer to my face, invading my personal space. "Are you too good for us? Or are you just simply not good enough?" He sneered at me like I was the dirt on his running shoes.

"Neither, I'm just simple neutral. It's kinda like Newton's law, you know? I'm not going anywhere nor will I do anything I don't want to until an opposing force makes me." I smiled sweetly at the grouchy coach as he stood straight up and squiggled something on the sheet with my name on it.

"Ryder Smith, congratulations. You're officially a SIDEKICK!" His voice boomed so loudly that you could probably hear it in my mother's office. I just shrugged and took the slip that had my homeroom teacher on it.

I arrived at Room 843 after the first 5 minutes of the period. Apparently this was the hero support class but it looked more like one of the storage rooms it was surrounded by. It had a plain fogged glass door but I could see figures behind the door so I knocked.

'5 seconds then I'm walking' I told myself. '3, 2, 1, okay that's it.' I turned my heel to walk away but the door opened with glow stick standing there with the doorknob in his hand.

"It's you." Was all I could say.

"Yeah, uh…you lost Freshy?" His eyes trailed over my dark metallic silver and black Shiny Toy Guns Tee shirt and moved down to my super skin tight grey plaid skinny jeans and black converse with a silver star on the ankles, unfortunately for him his eyes stayed on certain places a bit too long for my liking.

"Nope." I pushed my way past him, bumping shoulders with him causing him to lose his balance momentarily before he straighten out and took his seat between Magenta and Ethan. Apparently Layla had been upgraded to Hero status after the Homecoming incident and it was just the three of them who would never get a chance at becoming a hero because their powers were considered lame.

The classroom was smaller than I actually thought it would be, about 15-16 students total. Some of them looked right out of place like the girl in the tennis outfit, but others, like Ethan looked right at home. The teacher, however, looked strange. His blond hair was in disarray as were his clothes like he had just gotten out of bed and he looked like a hamster.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" He asked me politely. I just handed him the slip I had been given after I had been deemed not worthy of Hero status.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost on my way here."

"That's fine, most people do. It's somewhat hard to find. Class, may I have your attention please? I'd like to introduce your new class mate, Ryder. Ryder, would you like to say something about yourself?" He smiled like I would actually take the bait.

"Not really."

"Oh, come on! You'll find that in this class we are all friends. Go on, just one or two things about yourself." He smiled encouragingly as I sucked in a breath of air.

"Alright, my name is Ryder, you all know that. Uh…my mom is the reason I'm here, sort of. I'm not normal, so I'm stuck here. Can I sit down now?"

"Yeah, sure. Alright, as I was saying before Ryder joined us was that it's okay to be in Hero Support because we're kind of like the cheerleader's for our hero's…"

* * *

"No! John, she cannot go here! Send her to a normal school, a private one, anywhere but here!" Principle Powers shouted into the phone as she paced around her thankfully soundproof office after orientation.

"I can't Jo, and you know exactly why. You're the only school that'll take her." John Smith, Ryder's father and Principle Power's Ex-husband, said calmly on the phone.

She gave a breathless laugh. "It's not my fault she's been in and out of detention halls since she was 13. Maybe if…"

"Jo, I don't need the lecture and I'm pretty sure you don't want another fight. Can you just keep her at the school? You don't have to treat her like your daughter, just like a student until she can graduate, then you'll be rid of her. She already has a job and is working real hard. She's a good kid, a bright kid at that. You'll see, so please?"

"You've said that before and look what happened." She said as she stopped pacing and sat down at her desk, looking at the stacks of paper that covered every virtual surface.

"It'll be different this time. She knows the difference and who her true friends are. Look, I've got to go, I'm leaving for work in a few and I better get ready. It was nice speaking to you Jo."

"You too John and you better be right this time. Goodbye John."

"Bye Jo."

She hung the phone up softly before going back into Principle mode and got to work on the paperwork.

* * *

**_Ok, there's a poll on my profile for this story, please check it out and pretty please w/ cheesey goodness review! :D_**

**_~Cheeto_**


	2. Look What I can do!

**Quickie A/N: I really need a favor from you guys, please take my poll! I really don't have that much of the story left to update and I need to add to it if you want more! Pretty Please & thanks to those reviewers so far! Here's what you really came here for now, and please review!**

I spent the next 3 hours of my life learning things that I'd never want to use ever! I mean I aced the Hot Wiring for beginner's class in less than five minutes so they moved me over to Hero History. It was a mix class of Hero's and Sidekick's and apparently the only one that Will Stronghold hadn't passed due to the fact he flunked the final test and had to retake it or risk not graduating.

By the time lunch came along, I was pretty sure my stomach was speaking full sentences. I pulled out a brown paper bag from my backpack and went straight to the lunch room, I was looking around for him but he wasn't there, of course he wasn't here. He was in jail.

"Hey there!" A voice right next to me spoke causing me to jump. I looked around and saw that it was just Ethan holding his own lunchbox in his hands.

"Oh, hi."

"You're Ryder, right? Cool name by the way."

"Uh, yeah. Why?" I looked at him weird, thinking he'd get the hint and buzz off. Unfortunately he didn't.

"It looked like you didn't have a place to sit so I was wondering if you'd like to sit with us."

Why not? It's not like I have any other place amongst the preps, the nerds, the jocks, the jerks, or the weirdo's, so why not the most well known people in the whole school? "Lead the way."

They all sat at the same table everyday no matter what or at least that's what Ethan told me. "We truly are creatures of habit." He said as he sat down next to Warren who was eating some of the school's famous radioactive noodle soup, that left Layla across from Warren and Zach who was facing me but suddenly found his toxic waste tomato soup very interesting.

"Not your seat." Warren mumbled with a mouthful of noodles.

"What was that?"

"I said, that's not your seat Popsicle, now move." Just then a girl in a white tee and white miniskirt came up to us and kissed Warren on the cheek as two other's joined the table, Magenta and Will.

"Hi guys. Ethan, may I sit here please?" She asked sweetly and the nerd quickly moved. Honestly the other couple together couldn't have been more opposite.

"Hey guys, who's the new chick?" Warren asked with another mouthful of noodles, acting as if I wasn't even there.

"Her name is Ryder; she's a sophomore but just got in. Isn't that right Ry?" I physically tensed at the nickname Ethan had thought of for me.

"Yep, pretty much." I ripped open my bag and pulled out a PB&J along with an apple and an apple juice box.

"She's in Hero Support with us!" Ethan added excitedly, like a little kid and a new friend. I guess that's how he viewed me since I accepted his offer to sit with him and his friends.

"Really? So tell us Ryder, what's your power?" Warren asked now interested, he pushed away his tray and looked at me. I thought it might be a little bit of fun to at least mess with their heads for a little while.

"My power? I have lots of powers, like this." I lifted my left hand to my face and it burst into flames. I smiled at the table's reaction, they looked all freaked out, especially Warren.

"Hey, that's my power! You can't have that power!" He exclaimed as his girlfriend held him down from getting up and taking his fire back.

"Relax hot-head, like I said I have lots of powers." I said as the fire dimmed away to a small puff of smoke. "I like this one though." I held out my hand over Warren's noodle soup and white light and ice shot out of my hands, freezing the soup into a solid mass. Ice-girl smiled from cheek to cheek as Warren lit and relit his hand over and over making sure his flames were still his.

"Ooh! Do me next!" Layla raised her hand in the air like she was in class still.

I chuckled and held my hand next to my half eaten apple and watched as a tree began to grow from the seeds inside, roots come out from where I had taken a couple bites but I stopped after the tree reached 3 feet tall.

"You're a Mimicker!" Ethan said. "Cool."

"What's a Mimicker?" Will asked, leaning forward on his elbows toward the middle of the group to hear over the general chatter of the cafeteria.

"Her kind of superpowers comes with like some kind of genetic defect that is susceptible to any kind of change." Ethan said.

"Keep going." I said as I took a bit out of my back-to-normal apple.

"Okay, like with us, our genes are passed on from parent to child, basic biology. We either get our Dad's power or Mom's power or in Will's case, both. Most people when they get the first defect of a normal gene is when they're exposed to some kind of radiation like toxic waste or a nuclear power plant explosion like the bus driver. Anyway, it messes with everything including the only transmittable gene in the body, the sex gene."

"Ew, I think I just lost my appetite. Popsicle is talking about doing the dirty." Magenta made a face but Ethan continued in his so far correct explanation.

"But their gene usually stops mutating resulting in a power, but yours never stopped so you could basically have any power you wanted."

"Wow," I sipped from my half thawed juice box. "You really are a nerd. I'm impressed man, where'd you learn all that."

"Internet." He smiled happily and took a bite of his sandwich.

"So, how do you know who has the power?" Magenta asked. "Do you stalk them or something?"

"No, I can sense something in them. Like how I know you can turn into a guinea pig, and how Ethan can turn into an orange puddle, and how you can glow in the dark." I said the last to Zach, who raised his head at the mention of glowing in the dark. "It's not a stupid power like you think, it suits you, I mean with all the neon and stuff."

There was a hint of a smile on Zach's face when his face dropped at the sight of something behind me. I turned my head and saw a black/blond haired boy walking our way.

"Crap, here comes Mr. Perfect." Warren muttered as he ducked his head as well I.

"Do you two know him?" Will asked. The guy we were trying to not look at seemed pretty normal but Warren had called him Mr. Perfect, was there something wrong with him?

"Hey Freaks! How's it going today?" Oh, that's why.

"Hey Jason, how's that jaw of yours? I heard some freshman got ya' this morning." Sarah smiled. No wonder Warren was so fond of her, she might have been cold but her words were colder. She had hit Jason Balsawitch where it truly hurt, his pride. He was the biggest bully these days since Lash and Speed were no longer around to stick freshmen in lockers and get them acquainted with the men's toilets.

Jason took a smooth hand and rubbed it across his jaw, hardly flinching when his hand grazed over a sensitive area, but the flinch was still noticeable to the table. "What are you guys laughing at?" He hissed, slamming his hands on the table. His eyes looked all over the underclassmen, but stopped at the highly familiar face. "Holy crap! Radar is that you?" I grimaced at the old nickname the boy had given me.

"Hey Jay." I forced myself to smile and not throw up at his presence. "How's life?"

"Life is good, life is great! When'd you get out?" He thankfully ignored all the staring faces that were now pointed at me but I knew that wasn't planned, if anything he was coming over here to make fun of Ethan or Zach, possible Magenta, but this was just general curiosity.

"Uh…a few months back, actually. And you?"

"A little over a year ago, wow. I can't believe it's been that long. When'd you go back?"

"About a week after." I said shyly, acutely aware of all of the eyes from around the table which were on me.

Jason laughed to himself. "Wow, and now you go here. So why are you hanging out with this group of losers?"

Yep, same old Jay, he just doesn't know when to shut up. "Ha, gee look at that time, I better get going. Nice seeing ya Jay. Are you guys coming?" I asked as I stood up, wanting to get away from Balsawitch as soon as possible.

"You know guys, I think we're gonna go too. Bye Jason." Warren got up with Sarah and walked out of the cafeteria, while I took the rest of the table with me to the other hallway.

"Yeah, Nice to see you too Radar." He said quietly then noticed he was talking to himself as the bell rang and the rest of the lunch room exited.

The final class of the day was Gym with Coach Boomer, who just so happened to be the guy that I had copped an attitude with this morning, this should be fun! (Note Sarcasm)

Everyone one here was stuck in the standard blue and white Sky High P.E. uniforms. The gymnasium seemed bigger than it did this morning, probably because there was actual light in here but something seemed to have the teacher all messed up because he wouldn't take his eyes off his paperwork or the Bluetooth that was stuck in his ear.

"Alright, listen up ladies!" He yelled to get our attention even though there were still some boys in this class, like Zach and Will for example. It seemed as if I had at least one or more in all of my classes this year. "I'm going to make this quick so pay attention. Today is a free day, so this means 'make my life easy'. I want no fighting, no shouting, no loud noises, no killing, maiming, mauling, or any unexplainable gashes of any kind. You may use your powers just as long as you follow the rules. That's it." He turned around and talked into his phone as he hurried into his office where he lowered the blind. Zach and Will were quick enough to abandon me for the weight lifting area that was steadily filling up to watch Stronghold and how many reps he could do with 1000lbs. Stupid if you ask me.

I paced around the gym until I saw that as soon as Coach Boomer was gone Jason Balsawitch automatically started targeting the freshman, particularly a small little redhead with dangerous acne and square glasses.

"Hey freshman! Whatsup?" Jason asked as he pushed the smaller kid back; gaining all the gym's attention, even the hero's, and even Will Stronghold's.

"No-nothing. I'm not doing anything." The little kid managed to stutter as he tried to back way but ended up backing up into one of Jason's mindless goons.

"Really? Well that's funny, cuz I could have sworn you did. What was it Roach? Do you remember?" He turned and asked the dirty blonde that looked kind of twitchy and in need of a shower.

"Yeah, I remember. He's on the wrong side of the gym, aren't you little boy?" The girl named 'Roach' said in a Jersey accent. Roach's real name was Rachel Scotts; she was originally a sidekick because all she can do is control cockroaches that receive a certain wavelength that she transmits it.

"Don't do it Jay." I muttered to myself as I ran over to the edge of the crowd that seemed to have gathered around the inner group of kids. I pushed my way through them when I heard the boy start to cry. This was the signature of the ex-friend of mine, he would show you your worst fear, mess with your head, fuck it all up until up is down, in is out, and all that is left is pain and fear and even those lines are blurred into one.

"Jay! Stop it!" I yelled pulling him off the small kid he was practically torturing. He was just grinning from ear to ear like he was enjoying this.

"Why Radar? You use to like this, don't you remember? Showing who was on the top of the food chain, the ones with the most powerful powers, and how this little groveling snot is at the very bottom right next to Stronghold and his gang." He spun his words with temptation, I could feel it in me, wanting to draw me in but it wouldn't work anymore. I was better than that, I was immune.

"No, I just wanted to let you know that that's Larry's little brother. Good luck with that one." I pointed behind him, to the twin 6 ton boulders behind him. One of which was crying pebbles while the other looked down at Jason furiously.

I smiled as he reached down and picked him up like he was a simple twig, one thing that Jason never realized was that rocks don't have minds, but I think he learned that as he went crashing through the windows onto the front lawn.

"Feel better Larry?" Will asked as the rest of Jay's new gang went to their leaders' aid. The Boulder nodded and turned back into a typical looking nerd holding his little brother.

"Make them go away, take clowns away!" I heard Larry's little brother whimper as he shook under his brother's protective grip. My heart went out to him. Memories of my brother came back, when I had scrapped my knee falling off of his bike when I was 7, he kissed it and make it feel better for me, he was the one whenever I had nightmares who would tell me everything would be alright.

Before I could actually register what was going on, I was walking toward the brothers. "Ryder, wait!" I heard Will say as he tried to grab my shoulder but I just shrugged him off.

"Larry, I think I can help him, that is, if you let me." Larry nodded vigorously.

"Just make it stop. I've never seen him like this." He whispered before rocking his brother back and forth out of comfort. I took both sides of the younger sibling's face and held it in front of me. He began screaming, and crying 'clown! Clown! Get it away! It's going to kill me!', but I kept him in my grip before I undid the damage that Jason had done. A few moments later he was just looking at me and blushing.

He looked to his brother and asked "What happened?"

I stood up and dusted myself off. "He doesn't remember. It's a good thing I suppose; Jason could have sent him to a mental institute if he wanted to, or worse. You're lucky he just did that. Hey kid, next time I suggest staying on that side of the gym." I pointed to the opposite side of the gym before going back to my pacing as the crowd of kids dispersed into a thousand directions, all with one topic that they wanted to talk about, 'Who was that mysterious girl?'

I got off the bus without saying a word to anyone for the rest of school or the entire bus ride, even if the whole thing buzzed with chatter. I just stared at the small tear in the back of the seat in front of me the whole trip.

I opened the door to my house and was welcomed by the dark, cold air that filled my house for as long as I could remember. "Marco?!" I shouted into the empty house with no reply. Knowing my luck dad was at work typing his fingers to the bone on anal reports about how the computer system keeps failing every 15 minutes and how the entire building needs an upgrade. As if to act as a metaphorical game show host telling me I just won a prize, I went into the kitchen and found the note that my dad left on the microwave with leftovers from god knows when. _'Hey Honeybun. Dinner's in the microwave. How'd school go? I want you to tell me about it tonight. Love ya, Dad.'_ I could've told you that I was looking forward to talking about how horrible and disgustingly boring my day was but I'd be lying and dad would be too tired. He has good intentions, the old man; he just isn't as young as he was when he banged Astro Comet.

See, my dad works as a computer analysist at some big corporate firm that I could really care less about. The only thing that I like about it is that they keep my dad away at odd times, and when he's not working, I usually am.

Wait…work! Shit! I looked to the digital clock on the microwave and it was 15 minutes till 5o'clock. I quickly ran upstairs to drop my stuff off and grab my apron before I ran back downstairs and out the door and down the streets on my bicycle.


	3. Working Girl

Now if I could have, I would have just used any power I could sense within a 50 mile radius and used it, but since I'm a danger to society, the American taxpayers (with help for the U.S. government) decided to inject this nifty little tracking device thing in the base of my neck. Only it didn't just constantly track my location, it muted my powers to the point where I could only sense like 2 inches in front of my face but on no conditions was I able to actually 'mimic'.

I was burning rubber by the time I reached Owens Street off of Main where I worked. Sadly I worked as a waitress at a small little coffee place called Café24. I honestly didn't care because it was part of my probation agreement, along with the school. The Probation officer seemed pretty adamant about those two, oh and me not being able to use my god given talents. She just told me to use my other ones and shut up; I guess that's why I liked her.

"Sorry!" I shouted in the back as I clocked into work 3 ½ minutes too late.

"Where have you been?! The school kids are back, I need help!" Alison Veriday, coworker and fellow novice waitress came gasping for air out of the kitchen with 2 trays of orders in her hands. Alison was your average human-being, no superpowers of any kind. I should know; I've literally stood 2 inches from her in a packed room before. She had milky brown smooth skin, with a few dimples in her cheeks whenever she smiled. "Here, take those 2 over there." She nodded toward my section of the Café where 2 full tables of paying customers awaited my services.

The first table was a bunch of normal high school idiots wanting sandwiches and sodas; however it seemed as if the group at the next table was stalking me.

"Hi, sorry for the wait. What can I get ya?" I asked, not looking at the table but at my order slips that were running low. Mental note: get more slips.

"Ryder?" I looked up at the call of my name and saw the neon colored boy and his friends.

"Oh, hi." I said awkwardly. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We always come here after school, unless Warren has to work, or something comes up. What are you doing here?"

"I work here." I said matter-of-factly while showing off my black tie-on apron. "Is there anything I can get you guys? We're kind of in the middle of a rush here."

"Fine. Lay, you're up." He turned his head to the redhead whose attention was currently on her boyfriend. "Hello! Earth to Layla!" Zach reached over and threw a couple of packets of sugar at the disgusting couple.

"What?!" She yelled once Zach extracted her attention from his best friend.

"We're over here starving while you're all starry eyed. Come on man!" He threw his hands up in desperation and for added theatrics.

"Fine, you big whine baby. We'll have 3 club sandwiches, 2 salads, and a tuna salad. 4 Pepsi's, and 2 glasses of water, please?"

"Is that all?" I asked, writing all of this down in my crappy handwriting onto the small pad.

"Oh and a couple slices of cheesecake." Will piped in as I wrote that all down and turned to leave.

"Yo, Alfredo!" I yelled into the 'pit' where 3 other guys beside him were whipping around the small kitchen like it was nothing, making sandwiches and other random things we held on our menu.

"What do you need?" some Italian looking dude popped out of nowhere. I read him off my orders and put them on the wall that held all of our tickets.

"Psst!" Alison hissed, reaching for my attention while I was filling up my drink orders with the soda machine. "Hey, do you know those guys?" She asked as she stood behind the kitchen door, peeking through the small slit in the door at the group of laughing superhero's and hero support.

"Not really, they took mercy on me at school." I said, mindlessly continuing my job while she completely ignored hers.

"Really? You go to school with them?" She looked as if she really could have cared less, her eyes refused to leave their target. "One of them is really cute." She said absent mindedly.

"Which one? There's only 2 over there that I think are single."

"The one doing his homework. Oh my gosh! He's so cute! I'm a sucker for nerds."

"Let me see." I looked out the slit with her, my attention however wasn't on Ethan who was promptly doing his Advanced Mutated Biology homework, but it was on the blonde boy who was just playing with a strand of his hair that was slightly longer than the rest. I felt something in my heart pull towards the boy but I ignored it and went back to work.

"So what do you think?" I heard Alison ask as I loaded up my trays with the various sodas, I knew I was taking WAY too long and most likely my tip was going to be cut.

"Think about what?"

Alison rolled her eyes at me. "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying? I was wondering if you could possibly introduce me to him." I lifted up the trays to my shoulder and pretended to think.

"We'll see. First I have to make sure they don't forget my tip!" I pushed my back against the door and served my customers with happy eat shit smiles, especially to the normal high school idiots who couldn't stop staring at my chest even though it clearly wasn't visible through my clothes. I bit my tongue and balled up my unused fist to keep from beating the living shit out of the guy. Turning to the other table they were all smiles and giggles as I served them their soda's and waters.

"Hey Ryder; we're all going to go make fun of that new superhero movie at the megaplex, you wanna come?" Will asked, laughing still from a previous joke.

"I'm good, thanks."

"You sure? It's gonna be really funny." He persisted.

"Seriously, I'm good because see, after this 6 hour shift I've got this nifty little appointment next door for a seriously wicked tramp stamp. So you can see I'm a little preoccupied." My voice oozed with sarcasm and distaste as I turned away and went to get the rest of their orders. I didn't want to have to spend more time with them than absolutely necessary at school and that was better than saying 'oh no, see I can't because my parole officer would kill me a million ways to Sunday and then put me back together just to chew my ass out before throwing me back into slammer where I'd have to wait another year before eligibility for parole and another mortgage on the house.

It was safe to say that after my little bitch routine, they really didn't try to bother me unless I asked something like 'is that all?' or 'do you need a refill?', but they were just as polite back and left before it got dark when things settled down. By the time I got home I was too tired to even care whether or not I had friends at school. Noises from the T.V. greeted me when I entered the door this time and the lights were on everywhere; this meant one thing, my dad was home.

I wandered into the living room and found the old man asleep in his laz-e-boy in front of the television which was currently showing old re-runs of 'Leave it to Beaver' and 'Bewitched' on the oldies channel. These shows were like a sleep drug for my dad after a rough long day at work. Turning off the T.V., I helped my dad out of his comatose state and into his bedroom so he could actually get some real sleep. "Thanks Honeybun." He mumbled as he rolled over to the other side of the bed as I took off his shoes and pulled the covers over him.

The next morning I ignored the looks that were flashed my way as I made my way down the inch wide aisle on the bus into the last seat on the stop, apparently I had missed it the first time 'round and my dad had to wake me up just to make sure I could catch the stupid thing.

"Got a seat for you right here Shades!" The voice of a16 year old neon colored adolescent boy greeted me as I fell in the only available seat next to him.

"Say anything else and I swear, there's got to be a power on this bus that'll make you implode." I grumbled as I pulled the container of liquid heaven to lips. Ahh, caffeine…

"Not really, I think the most violent power on this bus route would to be Larry and his brother." Ethan chirped in. So I guess the bitch thing really didn't work, damn! What kind of sick sadistic people do they raise in Maxville nowadays?!

"You seriously need a life Ethan, man."

"How so? I'm living and breathing, aren't I?" Ethan peered over his glasses' frames over to us as Magenta came onto the bus. I couldn't help but watch as Zach followed her with his eyes as if imagining something impossible.

"I think you're the one who needs a life." I mumbled as I took another chug from my drink. Zach just acted as if he hadn't heard me because he probably couldn't have over the roar of the bus' engine.

"Guys wait for me!" Ethan yelled as he ran to catch up with his friends. I followed slowly behind as two boys followed in my step. I knew what their power was before I even knew who they were. One was hot, like fire hot, and the other was soft, like a glow; Zach and Warren.

"What do you two want?" I asked once I sat down on the grass just outside of the group with both boys with me.

"Something's been bothering me." Warren stated, staring me right in my eye.

"And what might that be?" I said rolling my eyes in his direction.

"How is it that Balsawitch knew you? It's not like your some Gwen Grayson." Warren smirked as I grimaced at the name. He probably thought it was out of fear of the high school villain but there was another reason behind it, one I wasn't willing to share. He thought he was scaring me, but he was just pissing me off.

"I've seen him around, that's all." I said as I starting pulling out grass, strand by strand.

"He seems to know you a bit more than someone who you meet in passing. So what happened, did you fuck him?" Warren whispered venomously into my ear as Zach was playing with his little video game, not having a single clue about what was happening around him.

"Why don't you go to hell Warren? I'm pretty sure they're preparing for your grand entrance and everything by now." I spat at him as I pushed my way past the rest of the fellow hero's and sidekicks, my cheeks burned with embarrassment as Warren's words echoed in my head. _'fuck him?'_ If only he knew.

"Ryder! Where at you going? What's wrong?" Ice-chick asked me as she grabbed my arm, trying to stop me on my rampage.

"Your boyfriend is a real ass." I grumbled before storming off again to the gym to take out some of frustrations on a punching bag or a track or something to keep me from beating the living shit out of Warren or anybody else that decides they want to mess with me today.


	4. Fight Like This

**Happy Holidays! This is my gift from me to you. Also, I've uploaded a few links onto my profile if you want to see some of the Characters like Ryder, Jason, Roach, and Ryders dad! These I think are my only original characters. Another thing, I do not own Disney's Sky High, I know how territorial Disney is about their stuff, so I'm just sayin'. **

* * *

I couldn't wait until gym today, why? Today was the day that we got to play 'Save the Citizen' and I couldn't wait to see how the school played it. We use to play this in the detention units but over there it was for the guards' entertainment. It would be like something out of a prison break movie and the guard would stick a couple of us in there at a time, power down the inhibitors, and instead of there being a citizen to save we'd have to save ourselves.

"Ok, kids!" Coach boomer broke me from my memories and back to the present. "Today, we're playing a different game than save the citizen. We're going to work on endurance training." Groups of students scattered around the gymnasium groaned. "Hey! Don't blame me; it's just that Principle Powers is worried that the villains are becoming stronger in hand to hand combat so we're having more training courses now.

"Alright, so when I call your name, I want you to come down here and pair up." Coach Boomer pulled out a clipboard and started calling names

"Anders and Scotts. Balsawitch and Marshall. Stronghold and James. Williams and Stevens. Peace and Braun. Kelly and Ronalds. Smith and Brown. Kale and Clarke.

"Okay, so what's going to happen is the two of you in a group are going to fight for 60 seconds, that's how long you'll have to disarm or sedate your opponent." Instantly Zach turned his head nervously watched as a smile spread across Warrens face. "Whoever wins gets to fight the winner of another group. This'll teach you how to last against a lot more than just one bad guy and not always will you have backup. It'll teach you how to not over exert yourself and better yet, it's your first test grade!" He said the last cheerfully like it was a good thing, but if this was how he was going to have all of his tests, then I won't have to worry about failing this class at least.

"Don't worry," Magenta said as she set her hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me. "Hand-to-hand isn't so bad. Just think of someone you're mad at and let it go. It's, like, six months of therapy in one class!" It amazed me how violently optimistic someone could be about this class even when the person in question's power is the ability to turn into a purple guinea pig.

"Team up!" Boomer yelled from his spot on the second floor that overlooked the entire gym.

"Good Luck." Magenta said before pairing up with some small shrimp of a kid.

I stared absently at the kid before me who was sweating like it was 1000 degrees in here. To everyone else, they would've thought that he was nervous as hell, but I knew what was going on with him. He was powering up, getting ready to throw waves of heat, not flames just pure heat my way. "Ready….Set….Go!" I suddenly I felt something I hadn't felt in years inside me, it was like a pulse of energy that widened my view, my perception, I could feel every heartbeat in the room inside me, all the powers at my fingertips, and I knew what happened. Someone turned off my inhibitor, but who?

The kid in front of me took my distraction as an opportunity, like any stupid person would against me would. He raised his hand and before he could cry out 'mommy' I sent him flying with a taste of his own medicine without even breaking a sweat or even having to look at him.

"Brown, you're out! You too Braun!" Boomer cried across the gym. I looked over and saw Zach rolling on the ground trying to pat out the flames that were dancing across his shoulders. 45 seconds later there was only half the class standing in the gym floor; Me, Warren, Will, Roach, Jason, Layla, Sarah (Ice-chick) and another kid. Magenta unfortunately got stuck with some kid who had the super belches and when she went to morph he belched her against a wall, knocking her out. No therapy for her I guess.

"Well, Well, Well, what a surprise." Boomer said sarcastically. "'K, Stronghold, you're with Scotts. Kelly with Williams. Kale with Balsawitch, and Smith with hothead. Pair up, you've got 60 seconds. Ready….GO!"

Warren and I stood at least 3 feet apart, circling each other like wild animals, but the only thing I could think of was the clock. _35 seconds left…_ Warren wasn't going to dare make the first move so I did, without him even noticing. Inside I was freezing him. How poetic, taken down by his girlfriends' own power with a frozen heart. Within 3 seconds tops, he was on the floor gasping for air with his hand clutching his heart.

"St...Stop! Please!" He begged as the ice was now pumping through his veins, feeling like a hundred thousand daggers running through his whole body. His words from this morning came back to me, adding fuel to the proverbial fire.

'_Feels good, doesn't it.'_ Jason's smooth voice echoed in my head, I turned my head and saw Kale running around and skipping like a little girl and Jason watching me, seeing if I'd go through with killing Warren. "Please!" Warren begged once more but this time I stopped, warming him up with that one kid's power. I'd never do it, I couldn't; I promised _him_ that was the last time. Warren fell to the floor, curled up in a little ball, holding the place where his heart was like it was his heart that he really was holding.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as the buzzer went off, signaling time.

"Time! Alright then, let's see here who's gonna be on their way to the finals! Stronghold you're going against Balsawitch, and Kelly against Smith. This time you'll only have 45 seconds to defeat your opponent. Pair up! Ready…Set…Go!"

The timer went off and Sarah seemed just a smidge ticked off. "That was my boyfriend you humiliated bitch!" Her frozen hand went to knock me in the jaw but I dodged it. Sidestepping I stuck my leg out and caused her to fall on her face. "Ugh! I'm going to kill you!" Her perfect ponytail was now all messy and her shirt was covered in sweat and dirt so was her skirt. _16 seconds…_

"I'm sorry." I said plainly with no emotions.

"You're gonna be." She tried to lunge at me again but I jumped toward her and morphed into a giant snow leopard, ramming her against the wall and kinda, accidentally, knocked her out or she fainted, I wasn't too sure.

"Alright! Balaswitch, Smith, nicely done. Whichever one of you can get through this last one gets a hundred on their test! This time I'll give you 30 seconds to defeat, so make it quick. Are you ready?" Jason and I nodded, both of us hardly looked as if we had done any real exercise while everyone else was burnt, hurt, sweaty, or passed out. "Ready…" I cleared my mind, and focused. "Set…" I was ready for him. I had all of my power with me, hell, I had every power within 50 miles with me. "Go!" Something's wrong, I suddenly felt weak again, my power was cut off and so was my attention because the next thing I knew I had my back against the wall with Jason's forearm crushing my throat.

_"Hey Radar, sorry but I've got to make this quick."_ Jason said in my head, that way coach wouldn't see anything. "_I know how that thing in your neck turned off, and I can get it that way forever. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"_ I nodded as I thought how long I had left _10 seconds… "Meet me behind the school today."_

I smirked at him before I knee'd him in the groin as hard as I could, causing him to fall to him knees. "See you there." I whispered into his ear before I pushed him over as the buzzer rang loud.

"Never thought I'd be saying this but, congratulation's Smith, you got an A on the test. Alright, everybody go clean up, those who need to go to the nurse, do so now, and somebody help Mr. Balsawitch up off the floor!" Boomer turned and walked off into his office.

I looked over to my 'friends' and saw them laughing together but when Warren looked over to me, he looked immediately to the ground. He was afraid of me, what had I done?

Behind me, Roach went immediately to Jason's side. "Why'd you let her win? You could've hurt her when you got the chance!" She hissed as she helped him up.

"We need her, just watch, with her we can do anything. She can never stay away from trouble for too long." Jason said as he straightened himself out and walked out of the gym.

I managed to steer clear from my 'friends' for the rest of the day and by the time the final bell rang I was well on my way to the back of the school where I found Jason and his crew already waiting for me.

"Look who finally showed." Roach said with a sneer. She was resting her arm on Jason's shoulder, like she was practically claiming him as her property.

"Yeah, so whatever you want to tell me better be good, 'cause I've got a bus to catch." I shifted my weight from one foot to the other like I always use to do whenever I was around Jason, but back then you never knew who was gonna try and jump you or start a fight, this was just out of habit.

"Aw, c'mon Radar, don't you want to hang with us?" Jay moved forward, gesturing to his little gang of wannabe bad kids.

"Not really, now tell me how you turned off my inhibitor."

Jason took back his place and crossed his arms over his chest, looking offended. "What? Do you think I'd just tell you? Really Radar, I thought you'd know me better than that."

"And I don't really care, tell me or I'm leaving."

"Fine, I know someone. They said that they'd help everyone who helped them. That means that they could fry that thing and you could have your whole power back." He stepped forward, lacing his words with his powers, making them all the more appealing than they actually were. "They could give you the world back, Ryder, they could make you one of us again, not like the human you are now." He stood right in front of my face, whispering his sweet lies to me and I didn't stop him. "All you have to do is say yes." His hand cupped my cheek, making me look at him. I realized then just how good he must have gotten with using his power. Even under normal circumstances I would never let anyone, let alone Jason Balsawitch, get this close to me.

My hand found his on my cheek but shoved it away. "Nice trick."

"Like that? I worked on it especially for you." He smirked and finally stepped away. "But seriously, they said that they would do that. Thing is Radar, we need you."

He was asking me for _my_ help? This couldn't have been good, but I still wanted to know. It was like that annoying itch you get on the back of your neck that you just can't help but scratch, no matter how much you swore you wouldn't. "How much time would I be in for if I helped you out?"

"A lot longer than you've ever been in before, and in a higher security prison."

"Good God, what the hell are you guys planning?" The most I've ever done is 2 years, I've never done anything bad enough to the normal society let alone the hero community to earn that much time, mostly little things, like breaking and entering and mostly breaking.

Jason's face curled into a sick smile, "We planning a prison break."

"Who? Who in the world would be so freaking important to you that you want to break them out of jail?" Who were these sickos? Had Jason brainwashed them all into helping him?

"Royal Pain."

* * *

**Fight Like This- Decypher Down**  
**Oddly enough, my teacher's son is in that band.**


	5. Fun and Pains

**Merry Christmas my pretties!**

* * *

I think my whole body went numb, no, I'm pretty sure it went numb because my backpack fell on my foot and that alone weights 20 or more pounds and I couldn't feel it. I was too much in shock. Jason Balsawitch and his group of henchmen-in-training were going to break Royal Pain out of a maximum security prison, not a detention unit, but a prison. Royal Pain was as loony as she came; the psychiatrist's in the prison believe she suffered from split personality disorder. I heard that she still thinks that she's a little girl, or a teenager, and then there's Royal Pain, a whole nother entity. I've only met her once when _he_ was still around and that was only for introductions.

"Are you crazy?! It can't be done!" I shouted once I finally remembered how to use my mouth.

"You're right, it can't, not without you." Jason said, relaxed against the cement brick wall surrounded by his followers.

"I'm not doing it. Good luck with that Jay." I grabbed my backpack and turned my heel. Jason and his crew would end up back in some detention unit or some prison somewhere full of all the other idiots that abused their powers, I wasn't.

"He's waiting for you, you know? He can't wait forever, Radar." My heart skipped a beat, now he had my attention.

"What do you mean?" I said turning around glaring daggers and pitchforks at his skull. If he was lying, I swear I'd take his power and make him rip himself into pieces.

"I mean, Reese, your only brother is waiting for you in there. If you help us, we can break him out as well. You'd still get to see him through an inch thick pane of glass every Christmas and birthday for the next couple of years, but if you do decide to help us, she can give you back everything you've ever wanted. A family, a world. Your choice Radar." I had to, he was my brother, I had to get him out of that hellhole. No one really knew what it was really like in trouble until they got stuck in maximum prison, what's worse than that? One made for super villains and their henchmen. Every day was torture, he used to tell me about it whenever I got the chance to visit, he hoped it would scare me into being good but it didn't and the only thing I could think of at that moment was how much pain my brother had to endure in his 7 year sentence being tried as an adult.

"How are we gonna do this?" I asked with a straight face, no emotion, nothing. Jason just smiled and pulled out a piece of paper to write something on.

"This is where we meet up, be there tonight at 9 p.m." I looked down at the sliver of paper _204 Lake Lane_I memorized it quickly and crumbled it in my hand before recalling Warren's power and turned the paper to ash in my hand. I opened it and watched as a silent breeze blew it all away.

"Leave nothing behind, right?"

"Right." It was an odd agreement we had going, Jay and I had once upon a midnight dreary and right now, that odd look he had going in his eye, didn't help very much.

"See you guys tonight." My voice may have never wavered but that didn't mean that I was scared out of my wits. As I was leaving I ran into someone I thought I would never see within a 100 feet of me willingly, Warren. No wonder it was easy for me to recall his power. "Warren! What are you doing here?"

"Bus's running late, we're gonna be here for a while, Stronghold and the rest of them wanted me to let you know." He spoke through gritted teeth, as if he were mad, I honestly don't blame the guy. I mean, I'd have some issues with the person who tried to kill me too, wouldn't you?

"Yeah, but why you, couldn't they have easily sent glowstick or Ethan?" I asked.

"Because, I wanted to let you know that if you _ever_ try to do something like that again, I will personally sneak in your window in the middle of the night and burn you to a crisp, got it?" His voice was in a low whisper but you could definitely feel the power and anger radiating off of him in waves.

"Fine, I'll see you inside. I've just got to get something." I had to get this nervous energy out of me; I needed to hit something _really_ bad.

I finally got home after 5 in the afternoon; the bus had a blown tire that no one knew how to fix until they finally called Medulla outside, 2 hours later. This meant I had 4 hours to do what I wanted until I had to leave. If I gave myself an hour to get ready and take a shower, I'm pretty sure I had plenty of time to vent and right about now I _really_ needed to vent.

First things first I went upstairs and changed into my shorts that fell past my knee but they didn't cling to my legs or constrict my movements when I needed to dodge anything. I shrugged off my shirt and slipped into a gray racerback sportsbra. Looking into the mirror I pulled back all of my hair into a ponytail and I couldn't help but see the scars from my previous fights. There was one in particular that I was fond of, it was from when I was last in the detention unit, it was between me and the daughter of Vanisher. She could pop in and out whenever she wanted to and decided to try to take my place at the top of the food chain but trying to kill me, let's just say she lost and ended up in the med. wing for over a month but she did leave a scar that traveled all the way around my side and across my back.

Rolling my eyes at the image I went down into the garage that held nothing except a couple shelves holding tools and past pictures of when everything was perfect, a few oil stains here and there on the ground staining everything, and an old red punching bag that had the worn logo 'Everlast'. Hooking up my iPod to the speakers on one of the shelves I turned the music up full blast, so loud that you could feel the bass in your veins. I liked it like that, it blocked everything out and it controlled my heartbeat. 'Bodies' by Drowning Pool was blaring by the point I wrapped up my hands and took the first hit.

Back at the Stronghold household, considering it was Friday, the group of teens draped themselves lazily across the living room furniture in front of the 72" plasma T.V. with surround sound system watching some dumb movie on Disney that had been hacked up to death in order to be G rated. In the distance a loud thumping noise could be heard.

"Can whichever of you guys listening to music turn it down? I'm trying to read!" Warren growled from the corner where he was reading some Stephen King book.

"None of us are listening to music, Warren." Will said matter-of-factly by his girlfriend's side.

"No, I hear it too." Layla shifted before standing up and pressed her ear to the kitchen window where the music seemed to be its loudest on the ground floor. "I think it's coming from outside." She said before opening the door and following the muffled sound down the street with the rest of them following reluctantly but mostly out of curiosity as well as to where the ruckus originated. They turned a corner and found a house directly behind the Stronghold residence booming with noise.

"Who lives here?" Zach asked Will because he lived closest to the house than any of the other young superheroes.

"I don't know, I've never seen the guy who lives here before, I heard from my mom that he usually keeps to himself at the homeowner's association meetings."

"We should go tell them to shut the hell up." Magenta said marching forward toward the garage door and banged against the metal before anyone could stop her.

"Maj, I think that's a bad idea." Zach and Ethan said simultaneously but it was too late.

"Hey asshole! Turn down you fucking music before I call the cops on your ass!" She spared no expense when it came to her foul language. There was a reply alright; the music was turned up louder to where even on the outside things seemed to be muted by the sheer loudness of the music coming from the inside.

"Fine, I'll shut the bastard up if it'll get me back to my book." Warren muttered as he pushed past the wonder duo, Will and Layla to the garage door. He grabbed the handle on the bottom of the mint green painted metal and pulled it up revealing a dark form in the back of the shadowy garage panting. Warren ignored it and went over to the shelf where he spotted the iPod resting and went to turn the volume off but as he did an arm shot out of nowhere, keeping his from escaping it's clutch.

"Don't do it." I said loud enough for him to hear through the music. I reached over and turned the nuisance down to where it was barely hearable before letting Warren go. "No one touches my stuff." I clarified to him as I stepped into the light that was pouring into my dark refuge. "What do you guys want?" God, I must've been a sight, basically topless, sweaty, grimy, and to top it all off I had scars decorating my body even places where the wonder teens here couldn't see.

"Ryder? So this is where you live? Huh." Magenta came inside the garage and looked at stuff as if she owned it.

"Umm…" Layla looked to ground and tucked an invisible strand of fallen hair behind her ears. "We heard noise, so we came to see what it was."

"She means she came over here to see what it was, we were just innocent bystanders." Ethan pointed to him a Zach and smiled lie he truly were an innocent bystander so that way I wouldn't have to kill them later.

"I don't care. I was just…" I heard a gasp and a crash of glass breaking on the cement, by the time I turned it was already too late, the picture was broken on the floor with Magenta holding a hand over her mouth. The look on her face was one of confusion and horror.

"I-I'm sorry, I just lost my grip."

"It's fine." I knelt down and was placing the picture back on the shelf when Zach came over and took it out of my hands.

"Here, let me help you with that." He took the photo out of my hand before I could protest and then he saw what Magenta had seen. In the picture there were 2 people, a boy and a girl, they were both smiling. The boy had black hair that was slightly longer than normal and looked a little emo, he wore a black and white band tee shirt with a black and white striped long sleeve under it, the girl beside him was dressed very much alike.

"This is Lash." Was all he could mumble, but it was loud enough for everyone else, especially Will and Warren to hear.

"What?!" They both shouted in shock as they rushed forward to see the picture.

"It is, oh god, it is Lash." Will stared at the picture while Warren acted.

He rushed me, grabbing me by the throat and slamming me against the back wall. "How do you know Lash?"

"Take a good look at the picture hothead, he's my brother." I grunted as he began to squeeze his hand around my throat.

"Do you have any idea what he tried to do to the school, to Will's parents last year?" Layla asked, not doing anything to stop Warren from choking me.

"Yes," I grunted. "I'm very much aware. Now, can you call him off please!"

"Warren let go." Will said, finally stepping out of his trance.

"No."

"Warren," Will set a hand on his shoulder as a warning. "Let Ryder go, you of all people should know what it's like to be related to someone not good. Just let her go and we'll go back to my house."

Warren thought over his choices before finally letting me go and letting me fall to the ground on my butt. "At least now I can read my book." He grumbled before leading the group out of my home.

Great now the school's most popular Hero/Sidekick group knew my secret. This should be fun.


End file.
